This specification includes a microfiche appendix including 7 microfiche and 686 frames.
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for generating verbal content and for controlling toys and other manipulable objects.
Technologies and systems related to the subject matter of the present application are described in the following documents:
Published PCT Application No. W097/18871 (PCT/IL96/00157); and in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/062,500 and 09/081,255, both to Gabai et. al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,880 to Gabai et. al.;
xe2x80x9cUsing the Microsoft Agent Character Editorxe2x80x9d, is available at following URL: http://premium.microsoft.com/msdn/library/sdkdoc/msagnet/deschar2zip_8r8x.htm
xe2x80x9cDesigning characters for Microsoft Agentxe2x80x9d, is available at following URL: http://premium.microsoft.com/msdn/library/sdkdoc/msagnet/deschar2zip_67zl.htm
Director, by Macromedia, is described at the following URL: http://www.macromedia.com/software/director/productinfo/whatis.html
Creator, by LEGO Media International is described at the following URL: http://www.legomedia.com/creator/creatorscreenshots2.asp
UniTools by Unitel Inc. is available at the following URL: http://unitel.inc.com/website/unitools.htm
The disclosures of all publications mentioned in the specification and of the publications cited therein are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention seeks to provide apparatus and methods for generating scripts having verbal contents.
There is thus provided in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for generating scripts having verbal content, the system including a computer having a user input receiver operative to receive a user""s definition of a script for at least one computer-controllable animated figure, the script including a plurality of interconnected script elements each representing an action performable by the computer-controllable animated figure, the script including at least one verbal script element representing a verbal action performable by the computer-controllable animated figure, and a graphics interface operative to generate a pictorial image of the script as the script is generated by the user, the graphics interface including a drag and drop facility operative to drag and drop script elements and a flowchart generating facility, the facilities being operative to provide a flowchart of script elements including illustrated connections, having respective illustrated directions, interconnecting illustrations of each dragged and dropped script element, and a verbal output generator controlled by the user""s definition of the script and operative to generate verbal output as defined in the script.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the animated figure includes a virtual animated figure on a computer screen.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the animated figure includes a physical animated figure.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the physical animated figure is wirelessly connected to the computer.
There is further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a script definition method including accepting a user""s definition of a speech recognition script element including a designation of a plurality of keywords to be recognized, and providing a flowchart generation user interface operative to facilitate generation of a flowchart by a user representing a script defined by the user, the flowchart including a conditional flowchart element representing the speech recognition script element, the providing step including prompting the user to associate each branch of the conditional flowchart element with one of the plurality of keywords.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a method for generating a computerized script including a speech recognition script element, the method including generating a speech recognition script element including selecting n keywords to be recognized, and generating a script junction having at least n+1 branches corresponding respectively to the n keywords to be recognized and to a xe2x80x9cnot foundxe2x80x9d option which is followed if none of the n keywords are recognized in a user""s utterance.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method includes automatically running the script.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a script generating method including providing a flowchart generation user interface operative to facilitate generation of a flowchart by a user representing a script defined by the user, the script including a plurality of script elements represented respectively by a plurality of flowchart elements, and using a computer to run the script defined by the user including highlighting, for the user, the flowchart element corresponding to the script element currently being executed.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the script is defined for an animated figure capable, in conjunction with the computer, of executing each of the script elements and wherein the using step includes activating the animated figure by running at least a portion of the script on the computer.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the computer includes a simulator operative to simulate at least a portion of the script without utilizing the animated figure.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the computer includes a computer speaker and wherein the simulator is operative to simulate speech of the animated figure by activating the computer speaker.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the computer includes a computer microphone and wherein the simulator is operative to simulate reception of speech by the animated figure by activating the computer microphone.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the computer includes a computer screen and a stored representation of the figure""s performance of individual physical-action script elements and wherein the simulator is operative to simulate physical action of the animated figure by displaying, on the computer screen, an image of at least a portion of the figure performing the physical action.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system also includes an Internet searcher.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the computer includes at least one input device and wherein the simulator is operative to simulate sensing activities of the animated figure by receiving mock sensory inputs via the input device.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a computerized script generating system including a user input receiver operative to receive a user""s definition of a script including a plurality of interconnected script elements each representing an action performable by a computer-controllable device, and a script implementer receiving the user""s definition of the script and operative to generate an integrated command, for transmission to the device, which command combines at least two adjacent script elements.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the script implementer is operative, for at least one pair of first and second script elements, to generate a single command, for transmission to the device, when the first and second script elements occur adjacently in the script and to generate a separate command for each of the first and second script elements when the first and second script elements occur separately rather than adjacently in the script.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a system for generating scripts having verbal content, the system including a computer having a user input receiver operative to receive a user""s definition of a script for at least one computer-controllable physical animated figure, the script including a plurality of interconnected script elements each representing an action performable by the computer-controllable animated figure, the script including at least one verbal script element representing a verbal action performable by the computer-controllable animated figure, and a verbal output generator controlled by the user""s definition of the script and operative to generate verbal output as defined in the script, wherein the computer includes a simulator operative to simulate at least a portion of the script without utilizing the animated figure.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system also includes a computerized scheduler operative to control the animated figure according to a user-determined schedule received by the scheduler.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system also includes an e-mail function.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the e-mail function includes apparatus for reading e-mail and apparatus for sending e-mail.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system is operative to generate a computer executable file operative to manipulate the toy without recourse to generation of scripts.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a toy content development system for developing content for interactive computerized toys, the development system including for each of at least one computerized toy, a preprogrammed library of software functions which are executable by the toys, and a computing environment within which a user of the system can program at least one of the computerized toys by generating at least one combination of software functions in the library.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the combination includes a logical combination.
There is additionally provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a visual toy development system providing a visual environment for developing toy content, the system including a visual computing environment within which a user of the system can visually program at least one computerized toy by generating at least one combination of software functions, the environment being operative to provide a library of visual software functions which are executable by at least one toy.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the environment includes a preprogrammed library of visual software functions.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a verbal interaction development system providing a visual environment for developing a verbal interaction, the system including a visual computing environment within which a user of the system can visually program a verbal interaction, the visual computing environment including a visual representation of at least one of a speech comprehension function and a speech generation function.
There is further provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a verbal interaction development system providing a visual environment for developing a verbal interaction, the system including a visual computing environment within which a user of the system can visually program a verbal interaction, the visual computing environment including a visual representation of at least one of a speech recognition function and a speech articulation function.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the visual computing environment is operative to accept a user""s definition of at least one of the following logical structures: a decision tree, a flowchart, and a state diagram, and to generate a manipulable visual representation thereof, wherein the visual representation includes a simulation of performance, by the toy, of the combination of software functions generated by the user, the simulation including a traversal of at least one of the logical structures.
There is also provided in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention a verbal interaction development system providing a visual environment for developing a verbal interaction, the system including a computing environment within which a user of the system can program a verbal interaction, the computing environment including a representation of at least one of a speech recognition function and a speech articulation function, the speech recognition function including a speech template generator operative to accept, for at least one speech input, a user""s definition of a set of templates, to each of which the speech input is to be compared, and a template recognition probability evaluator operative to evaluate the probability of correct matching of at least one speech input to each of the templates in the set.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system also includes a developed content simulator operative to generate, on a screen display, a simulation of a programmed computerized toy performing a plurality of software functions in accordance with the programming of the toy by the user, using the computing environment.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the system also includes a user workstation serving the user which is located remotely relative to the preprogrammed library and the computing environment.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the remotely located user workstation is connected to the preprogrammed library and the computing environment via the Internet.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the remotely located user workstation includes an Internet browser.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the apparatus is substantially as shown and described above.
Additionally in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the apparatus is substantially as illustrated in any of the drawings.
Further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method is substantially as shown and described above.
Still further in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention the method is substantially as illustrated in any of the drawings.
Preferably, the stored representation includes a plurality of graphic representations of the figure performing a corresponding plurality of script elements.